Candied Citrus Peel, an Easier Method

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In the past, I have followed a recipe from Better Than Store-bought, one of my favorite cookbooks, to produce this candy when I have a surfeit of beautiful citrus. It is a bit messy, tedious, and time-consuming. I could not bear to throw away the extra, beautiful, Meyer lemon peel that was the result of making sorbets for Passover this year. Having little time to mess with an extra, unsolicited dish, I read over the recipe and realized that I might be able to circumvent the gooey task of separating the peel from the syrup so that the syrup could be further reduced. I decided to cook the peel in syrup that had already been reduced by half. I also eliminated the corn syrup, which is not kosher for Passover. I reasoned that it did not matter how shiny the candied peel would be if I was going to coat it with granulated sugar anyway. I was thrilled with the results—delicious, beautiful, candied peel without frustration.

Candied Meyer Lemon Peel

• 6 Large Meyer lemons
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 water
• granulated sugar

With a sharp, swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, peel long wide swaths of the zest while the lemons are still whole before cutting and juicing them for other purposes.

Stack a few of the swaths together and slice into thin strips with a sharp knife until all of the swaths have been turned into strips.

Cover strips of peel with boiling water and let sit until water is room temperature. Drain and repeat two more times. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine sugar and water in a 10-inch frying pan and bring to a boil on high heat, stirring once while hot to dissolve sugar.

Boil syrup until reduced by about half and bubbles look a bit thicker. Carefully add well-drained peel and cook until peels seem tender and most of the syrup has disappeared and there is only a tablespoon or so left in the pan.

Spread granulated sugar in a thin layer in a jelly roll pan.

Lift hot strips in small clumps with two, two-tine forks and drop onto granulated sugar bed. Use forks to separate strips and toss in sugar until separated and well coated with sugar. Allow to dry for several hours before packing into an airtight jar.